Lower Bruckland Ponds

With the forecast suggesting this morning was going to be cloudy and still I was keen to get out ringing, and opted for Lower Bruckland Ponds - what a session it was!  I only put two 60 foot nets up and in the first net round caught 21 birds!!  It wasn't just the nets that were busy, there were birds everywhere. The fog appeared to be disorientating migrating birds as I had small flock of Redwings flying in all directions. A Brambling north overhead was my first of the autumn and ten Fieldfare included a flock of eight that flew north.  LOVE MIGRATION!

Bird ringing always has the ability to surprise me, and yet again it did just that today.  I'm always dropping in to Lower Bruckland Ponds during the autumn to check through the Long-tailed Tit flock that seems to be semi-resident here, well I caught this flock on my first net round today.  I then caught another flock of un-ringed Long-tailed Tits, then another, and then another!  Nuts.

You can't do anything with ageing on Long-tailed Tits as both young and adult undergo a complete autumn moult so they all look the same, although one of today's did look a bit different...

Someone been for a manicure? Claws are usually dark.

My ringing totals for the morning were:

1 Robin

4 Chiffchaff

2 Goldcrest

3 Great Tit (1 retrap) 

12 Blue Tit (4 retrap)

27 Long-tailed Tit

1 Treecreeper

1 Goldfinch

So that's 45 new birds ringed.  Not bad for a session that I actually had low expectations for, and only two nets!

The Yellow-browed Warbler was still present in Primrose Way this morning, but there was no sign of it at midday so it may have moved on.  Later on in the day Clive pulled a good'un out of the bag with a Cattle Egret in Colyford, the second he's found in two days! Seems to be something of a influx of these happening at the moment, so maybe we can expect some more?